Stephen Dubner

speaker

14,500 appearances 96 recordings 4 series first heard Dec 2024 last heard 3d ago

Stephen Dubner’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

Trend

recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 63 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 12.

Appearances

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Freakonomics Radio · 685. How to Survive the A.I. Shock · 4 Sep 2026 podcast

I mean the fact that we call it the China Shock is kind of funny because it wasn't supposed to be a shock. voice-verified

This was voice-verified

If I have it right, the Clinton administration thinking, based on previous administrations' interactions with China, that it was a really good idea for China to be admitted into the WTO, the World Trade Organization, and become a trading partner and a labor partner. voice-verified

So assess that decision and then the downstream consequences, knowing what you know now. voice-verified

So you recently gave a TED talk discussing the China shock. voice-verified

And in a conversation you and I had not long ago, you said we screwed that up. voice-verified

Good idea, terrible implementation. voice-verified

Number one, we started too late. voice-verified

Number two, it was massively bureaucratic. voice-verified

Number three, it's completely divorced from employers. voice-verified

What makes you think this time can be different? voice-verified

Let's assume that there is a massive job replacement due to AI or massive job loss, or at least shifting due to AI. voice-verified

And at this point, it is still an assumption, really. voice-verified

But let's assume that that is true. voice-verified

What makes you think that this time can be different if you're following essentially the same playbook, which is to say we will be alert, we will voice-verified

retrain and we'll figure out how to redistribute these gains a little bit better. voice-verified

What makes you think it can work this time? voice-verified

It just often doesn't work. voice-verified

So what was there back then? voice-verified

Was there federal money going to states for retraining programs? voice-verified

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